


Man's Best Friend

by Glossolalia



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Comedy, Cutesy, Dogs, M/M, Oneshot, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Rough Sex, Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 19:51:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8026756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glossolalia/pseuds/Glossolalia
Summary: Shiro and Keith take in an alien puppy to soothe Shiro's nerves, but all she does is get on Keith's.





	Man's Best Friend

**i.**

On Castle Lion, there was an undeniable novelty in finding terrestrial planets. If peaceful, then there was no tearing the Paladins away from the helm. Not unless Allura felt the undying urge to instigate an all-out war, of course. This hostility (or pouting) was a side effect of homesickness, and the desperation for some kind of human familiarity other than teammates. For the majority of the Paladins, it was in relation to the silent prayer that they'd find either an alien diner with a sandwich or some semblance of interuniversal pop culture.

Keith missed music, Hunk was on the hunt for cinema and Lance and Pidge were determined to find comic books of any kind. Shiro pretended not to care, but Keith knew better. They'd once found a video game console, and he'd watched Shiro break out into a nervous sweat and promptly stride away from the storefront.

"What do we know about this planet, Coran?" Shiro asked, helmet cradled beneath his arm and hand low on his hip.

"The database hasn't configured new information for the planet in thousands of years. Last time we checked, it was infested with slobbering, six-legged beasts that infested the planet like parasites. They infiltrated all of the main cities and even created mass hysteria."

Shiro arched an eyebrow. "Sounds safe."

"We literally pilot the universe's most powerful weapon," Pidge reminded him, still typing on their laptop as they spoke. "I think we'll be okay."

"We're still going," Hunk snapped, popping his head up from behind the holographic tablet he'd been drawing on. He pointed his pen at Coran and Shiro who was quick to lift a hand in surrender. Shiro knew better than to fight Pidge _and_ Hunk. "We are still going, man."

"Being on this thing for too long makes me feel gross," Lance said from across the control room. He rubbed his shoulders. "It is _not_ normal to be this cooped up."

Keith sat lounged back in his seat, legs spread and head tilted toward the ceiling. He was pretending to think, but really, he was doing his best to nap with his eyes open. The boredom was so tangible he was having heart palpitations.

"Onward we go then," Coran said, and Lance began dragging fingers through his deck to assert coordinates.

Keith glanced toward Shiro, but it wasn't long enough for the Black Paladin to notice. He heard Shiro's oncoming footsteps and closed his eyes with a creased brow. A cool set of fingers reached out and ruffled his already messy hair. There was something gentle in the gesture, but it was the sweep of Shiro's thumb along his cheekbone that confirmed aforementioned gentleness. Keith wanted to lean into it, but Shiro cut the cord by playfully pushing his head to the side.

"Stop sleeping on the job," he said, grin teasing every syllable.

Keith smiled and reached up. He encircled his fingers around Shiro's wrist, but he didn't linger there long enough to attract attention from the others.

"I was thinking."

Shiro laughed, the sound pure and gentle. "You forget I was a TA in almost all of your classes. I know _exactly_ what you were doing."

 

 

**ii.**

The planet's name was a series of numbers Keith promptly forgot, but he decided he'd have to eventually log them for future travels. This was because—upon seeing the planet's majesties—Keith was left gawking within the Red Lion, leaned forward and eyes narrowed.

The planet's surface shone like a puddle of limoncello; its figure itself not exactly spherical but an apparent oval that collected hazy blue rings with a threaded consistency only comparable to cotton candy. From the sky, Keith could see that its mountains were endless and capped with silver snow, and its valleys dipped deep, brimming with a green that made him miss earth.

"That is _vibrant_ ," Lance said through the channel. "V-v-v-v-v-vibrant. V-v—"

"Could you not?" Keith said, the question more of a demand than request.

"V-v-v-v-v-vibrant," Hunk finished.

Keith thrust his lion forward, fully entering the atmosphere and noting the gravitational shift. He inspected the negotiating levels on his screen and was surprised to see it was comparable to home. He was only somewhat lighter on the strange planet, and he wondered if he could get away with leaving his suits adjusters alone.

Pidge quickly confirmed they wouldn't even need their helmets.

The five of them landed outside the nearest city. Keith brought his helmet with him, but he didn't tug it on as he abandoned Red. As soon as he stepped out, he was met by the warmth of two intersecting suns and an indecisive moon that hardly seemed to be orbiting on a defined track. There was a momentary solstice that shifted the sky green, but he hardly paid attention to the olive shadows when Shiro appeared beside him.

His leader was looking ahead, eyes narrowed on something. This concentration didn't stop him from reaching for Keith's waist. He squeezed once and leaned over.

"What is that?" Shiro asked. It was more for himself than Keith.

Hunk jogged up beside them and Shiro freed Keith's waist.

"You mean, what are _those_?" Hunk corrected, and Pidge was pressing their foot toward Shiro, prepared to scale his back if something approached.

"Is that what Coran was talking about?" Lance asked. "They look kind of _small_."

They were six-legged purple creatures Keith could only compare to either a pig and dog lovechild or unfortunate alchemy incident. Squished noses, thick pelts that hiked high between their shoulders and then what looked to be paws as big as dinner plates; they stood in a flock similar to sheep. To Keith, the things appeared oblivious what with their hanging tongues and wide black eyes. He had to wonder how the lions hadn't disturbed them.

"They look like dogs!" Pidge said and Keith twisted his mouth to the side.

"They look like Galra," Keith murmured.

Hunk lifted his palm for a high-five, and though it took Keith a minute to realize what Hunk wanted, Keith finally smacked it with his own palm.

"Nice one, brother."

Unprompted, Lance brought his thumb and index finger to lips and whistled with a hard gust from deep within his lungs. The other four yelled his name in unison, but there was movement to their fronts that entirely distracted them from bullying the Blue Paladin. Keith instinctively reached for his Bayard, but Shiro slowly reached for him to stop. The horde had all turned their heads toward them, triangular ears perked as they continued to pant.

"Stay very still," Shiro instructed and cautiously took a step back.

His boot met a twig, and when Shiro applied all of his weight, it snapped beneath him with a condemning crack. Everyone shot Shiro an accusatory leer, and he exhaled, hard.

The alien's stood on edge even more, and without warning, stampeded toward the Paladins.

"Run!" Hunk yelled, darting toward the lions with Pidge sprinting beside him. Rover whirred past Keith at the speed of light. "Everyone, run!"

Keith lifted his Bayard, and his sword manifested in hand with an afterthought of raining light. He postured himself in preparation to attack, and Shiro and Lance stood their ground beside him. With Lance's laser gun pointed and Shiro's arm ignited, Keith inhaled sharply with the intent to gut the monsters, but the rush didn't linger.

He didn't give an explanation, but Keith suddenly lowered his weapon. He entirely disengaged his sword into its handheld form, and the other two glanced at him in question. Keith pursed his lips, and he closed his eyes as if disappointed in himself.

The oncoming creatures were bounding toward them with tongues out and eyes wide. They were happy, overjoyed by the Paladins' presence. Not only that, but it was apparent their dully fanged teeth couldn't penetrate armor.

Keith's shoulders sank in submission.

He couldn't do it.

They were cute.

"Keith, now's not the time to lock up!" Lance yelled.

Shiro looked forward and too realized what Keith had observed. Shiro lowered his arm, and its glow died while Lance stared at the pair as if they'd lost their minds.

He gestured with his gun. "Did you two make a suicide pact I wasn't included on? Because we can deal with that back on boa—"

"Lance, stand your ground," Shiro suggested.

"No. You stand your ground, Shirogane. I don't want to—"

Promptly, the three were tackled to the floor.

 

 

**iii.**

"I love them," Lance sobbed, face muffled by fur as he hugged one of the animals' thick necks. His hands were covered in green slobber. "I love them all. We should take them home with us."

"I'm sure Allura would have something to say about that," Shiro softly answered, but his eyes were on the face of the creature he was giving full head scratches to.

Pidge and Keith had been right about one thing, and it was that the creatures were like dogs. In fact, Keith had never met a creature that could possibly 'out dog' the Earth dog. The friendly beasts were doing a good job of convincing him they'd found something happier than the Golden Retriever.

It'd taken the word 'dog' to send Hunk and Pidge running back from the Yellow Lion's mouth.

"Belly scratches," Hunk sobbed from beside Lance as he rubbed a tiger-sized female's gut. The two Paladins gestured at one another, and Keith looked away because they were in literal tears. "They love belly scratches so much. I want one. I want ten."

"We should get twenty," Lance said and was promptly greeted by another who wanted petting.

Pidge was on their knees beside a slobbering male that kept licking their face as they attempted to take measurements for the database.

"I'd classify them as canines," they said. "These are _dogs_."

"Dogs!" Hunk said, words warbling into a sob. "We're petting dogs."

Well, everyone except Keith.

"You look happy," Keith said to Shiro who was then rubbing behind the ears of the very dog that'd sent him on his ass.

"Remember how we used to say we were going to get a dog?" Shiro asked.

Keith paused on that statement. The collective 'we' always threw him, but there were complex reasons for that neither had hashed out since Shiro escaped imprisonment. He smiled at the memory and knelt down beside Shiro with a quiet 'yeah.' His hands reached out, and he roughly scratched along the dog's chest, fingers literally disappearing into the fur and only reappearing when he went to humorously stroke the loose skin along the dog's face. It shook from side-to-side, but the creature seemed to enjoy it either way.

"They say dogs are good companions for people with PTSD," Keith said, and he looked to Shiro whose expression softened in a different way.

Shiro reached for Keith's hand when it stopped petting and gave it the slightest squeeze. Their fingers slid together as if begging to weave, but they knew better.

"I could call Allura," Keith offered. "She might let us have _one_."

As Shiro contemplated his answer, Keith tilted to the side at the sight of something small settled amongst the tall legs. At first, it looked like a purple fluff ball, unassuming and maybe a tumbleweed of shed fur, but then it moved. This move turned into a small roll followed by a scoot.

Keith soothingly touched Shiro's bicep, and he lifted a finger to imply the man needed to wait a second. He darted into the crowd and knelt down, head surrounded by coats and the occasional greeting bark. When the aliens became concerned for him and his stance, Keith was attacked by the tongues, but he shrugged them off and lunged forward for his target. With a huff, Keith gathered the tiny cloud in his arms, and as soon as he was able to, stepped back. He waded back to Shiro, and it was only then Keith noticed the man was watching him with a wistful smile. Dreamy; his gaze was _dreamy_.

Keith cleared his throat and wiped the staining drool from his cheek.

Composed, he stepped in front of Shiro whose pal had drifted over to Pidge. Keith unfurled his arms for the other to see what he'd found, and Shiro tried to hide his surprise when a pair if tiny black eyes peeked up at him. The eyes rapidly blinked, and Shiro was startled by a yippy bark that made Keith jump, too. It yipped again, but didn't attempt to wriggle away.

"They were going to trample it or whatever," Keith explained. "I wonder if it got caught up with the crowd."

He cradled the tiny pup in his arms. It remained there, completely compliant, and Keith managed to simultaneously scratch its ears as he held its head.

Shiro stepped closer and peered over Keith's shoulder. "It's pretty relaxed."

"It's a puppy," Keith said, acting as if he were in awe.

"I wonder where its mother is."

"I'm not sure, but good luck finding her in this swarm."

Shiro reached down to rub the baby's stomach and its tongue hung out. Keith, too endeared to function, looked away with watery eyes. Shiro chuckled at Keith's auto-response.

"Too cute to deal?"

"Leave me alone, Takashi."

"Wait—" Shiro paused and reached for the puppy's highest left paw. He pushed back the fur only to find what looked to be a healed nub where a paw might've once been. Shiro gingerly brushed his thumb over the scar tissue, and while the puppy trembled, it didn't move away from Keith's gentle hold. Frowning, Shiro pointedly reached to take the puppy from Keith's arms. Keith hesitated but handed it off. Shiro cuddled it close, lowering his lids in thought, and he softly tapped the puppy's nose. "I know that feeling pretty well. It's not fun, is it?"

Shiro leaned over, and when the puppy swatted at his nose, Keith swallowed the lump in his throat.

Was he tearing up?

Possibly.

Yes, definitely.

"Paladin Code—something about taking care of anyone who needs help," Keith said as he stepped away to call Allura. "I'm calling the princess."

Keith was surprised when Shiro didn't try to stop him, but as the man continued to speak to the puppy, Keith assumed Shiro hadn't even heard him.

"Hey, Allura. Hear me out before you get mad…"

The puppy rode home on Shiro's lap.

 

 

**vi.**

Shiro named her Delphi for the constellation Delphinus.

Pidge and Hunk built her a bionic sixth leg.

Lance taught her how to play fetch.

Keith let her sleep in his and Shiro's bed.

 

 

**v.**

There was something about co-raising an animal together that ultimately brought Shiro and Keith closer. Keith noticed it, and while he hated to admit the puppy had a lot to do with their rekindling and forgiveness, he knew she relaxed Shiro into less intense moods. Clearly, there was something therapeutic about having Delphi walk across their heads at night and trip them down the hall when she was excited enough to dare barreling between their ankles.

The only problem with rekindling and having a puppy was the fact that the puppy was _always_ there.

They'd once tried to mess around while she was in the room. This had been uncomfortable for Keith to begin with, but when Shiro grabbed his hair and pushed him over the bed to rut him stupid, they'd been sternly barked at from the corner. Shiro had found it funny, Keith's mood had dialed down, and instead of fucking until Keith couldn't breathe, they'd spent the evening cooing at Delphi. Keith pretended not to be annoyed, but Shiro definitely hadn't been.

He needed sex, though.

Even in the dead of night, Delph was between them. This meant reaching over to give a hand job wasn't even an option. Keith had once tried catching Shiro before he stepped out of the Black Lion. He wasn't above riding Shiro in his pilot's chair. Hell, the idea was kind of hot, but Shiro being Shiro meant he'd immediately needed to return to the bridge.

Keith had even tried pushing him back inside for a 'quick talk,' but Allura had rang, and that'd been the end of that.

That was how Keith found himself postured in Lance's doorway, arm against the frame and a squirming Delphi beneath his elbow.

"Hey, Lance," Keith said, watching the fellow Paladin read through his Bayard's charts.

Lance, suspicious of the friendly tone, arched an eyebrow. "Hey, _Keith_."

"Want to be _the_ good uncle and babysit for an evening?"

"I'm kind of…"

Keith set Delphi down and let her run for Lance. "Cool. Thanks."

The Blue Paladin scooped her up before she ran into his knee, and he sighed with a licked face. "Keith, why do you need me to…"

He was destined to go without a direct answer.

The automatic doors whirred shut behind Keith, and Lance could've sworn he heard his teammate breakout into a run.

 

 

**vi.**

Keith was on Shiro's lap barely ten minutes after he walked in from his shower. His gray sweatpants had clung to him in just the right places, defining exactly what Keith had been aching for since becoming a full-time 'parent.' Keith's mouth pooled wet at the outline of Shiro's bulge, and he knew there was no holding him back. Not that he wanted to hold back to begin with, but he hadn't gauged Shiro enough to know if he was interested in filling anything that night.

At that point, his yearning told him any orifice was enough. Truthfully, Keith would've done anything Shiro asked him, period. But there was something comforting knowing Shiro didn't have the capacity to take advantage of that disposition.

Keith kissed Shiro with a wet pop, tongue laving along the other's front teeth as his thighs tightened around his waist. Keith was lubed, panting due to the fact Shiro's bionic fingers were hooked deep inside him. Already, he couldn't see straight, but he was fine with that. He didn't need to see as long as Shiro gave him what they both wanted.

"Scoot forward," Shiro ordered. His voice was ragged, thick breaths lifting from his heavy chest. Keith did as he was ordered only to feel three fingers slip clean from his body. He was suddenly too empty, thighs trembling from the enormity of that evening's want.

He lifted himself onto his knees, and Keith's cock lazily pressed to Shiro's abdominals. It streaked pre-cum along the Black Paladin's firm skin, and that hungry rush only made Keith want to grind harder, faster. Shiro wouldn't let him, though. He took Keith by the hip and escorted him back until his ass met the front of his heavy cock. Firm and flooded with heat, Keith could feel the length pressing toward his hole that was still slick, still ready for Shiro.

Keith reached back and held Shiro by the base, moaning due to the sensation of him in his palm alone. He lined the cockhead up with his puckered entrance, and slowly, very slowly, Keith lowered his full weight. The pressure was uncomfortable, but the threat of discomfort was fought by the tantalizing eventuality that came with being fucked wide open. Keith parted his lips in a cry that was muffled purely by the determination to maintain some control. Shiro, sensing the other's fight, tauntingly kissed Keith's temple and hummed as if babying the Red Paladin—after all, he was Shiro's _baby_. To make a point, Keith finally seated himself back with a merciless dip, and in turn, knocked the breath clean from his lungs.

"There we go," Shiro murmured, low and borderline sultry. He reached beneath Keith's cock to glide his palm along the other's balls, and Keith's thighs tensed, navel sharply dipping back.

He knew Shiro was trying to let him adjust, but Keith wasn't having it. He lowered himself even more, the stretch twisting his stomach in soft pleasure that all at once released in a flood of heat.

Shiro leaned his head back against the headboard with a husky ' _yes, yes, yes_.' Keith memorized the rhythm of Shiro's chant and languidly rolled his hips back up. Inch after inch retracted from his body, and Keith savored every one of Shiro's slick ridged that caused him to clench down. He bit into his kiss swollen lip, smiling to himself and oh-so satisfied with Shiro's flushed face.

"Pleased with yourself?" Shiro asked, ragged breathing splitting words.

Keith indolently licked his upper lip, quirking an eyebrow when Shiro subtly bounced him. He wanted to whine but retained it. "A little."

Shiro dug his heels into the mattress and lifted his hips again. Keith's hands clasped onto Shiro's shoulders, but he should've seen the mistake there. With his hands secured on the other, Shiro agilely shifted them forward and sent Keith onto his back. Still nestled inside Keith's squeezing body, Shiro hiked Keith's thighs back and pressed their foreheads together.

Shiro ran his thumb along Keith's chin, their breath hot and mingling. "How pleased with yourself are you now?"

"Still _really_ pleased," he murmured, never breaking eye contact.

The challenge was thick on Keith's tongue. Shiro noted this, and he pointedly thrust forward with all of his strength.

Keith finally whined beneath him.

Shiro did it again, and again, and again.

"Oh m' God."

Keith breathlessly gasped when Shiro fucked him, drilling upward with strikes that viciously tore the air from between his teeth. Keith dragged his nose across Shiro's cheek and collapsed his forehead against his shoulder as he rocked himself, the taut skin beneath his mouth growing sticky with condensation. Keith lazily kissed what he could and reached for Shiro's bangs. There he combed through and momentarily gripped, but the hold slackened and dropped. Keith smoothed his hand down Shiro's chest and rested it on his lower-pelvis.

The mattress shook beneath them, and Keith's initial thick breathing dissolved into hard whimpers.

"O—oh, Shiro…" Keith fucked himself against the man, determined to meet him halfway. Sweat matted his bangs to his forehead, and he tilted his head back with rolling shoulders. Shiro saw it was an offering and slowly dragged the flat of his tongue along his Adam's apple.

Keith was prepared to tell Shiro to give it to him from behind, even utilize their safety word, when the the familiar sound of the bedroom door whirring open caused him to go still. Keith snapped his head back to look at the door as Shiro tugged a blanket over the space between them. His eyes searched for his next murder victim, but there was no one standing in the doorway.

He waited, catching his breath.

Again, nothing.

"A door malfunction," Shiro offered, only sounding somewhat annoyed. 

Suddenly, there was a _yip_.

"Lance!" Keith yelled and pushed himself up on his elbows. Shiro tried to push Keith back down so that he couldn't kill his teammate. "Lance, I swear to God!"

Delphi's tiny paws scampered toward the bed, entirely oblivious to what her parents were up to. Keith covered his face with both palms.

Shiro chuckled, but Keith lifted a palm to signal for him to stop.

"Don't, Takashi."

Shiro continued to laugh.

"I'm officially never having sex again," Keith murmured, monotone and defeated. "This is a sign from God."

"I'm sorry," he tried, but he kept swallowing chuckle after chuckle. "I'll take her to Pidge."

Shiro pulled out, and Keith's pithy cry surprised them both. 

"Shiro, hurry," Keith pleaded, suddenly sounding pathetic. 

His boyfriend tugged on his forgotten sweats and scooped up the staring dog, her eyes twinkling at her father in pure wonderment. Shiro looked at Delphi and finally burst out laughing as he strode out of the bedroom, barefoot.

"Lance," Keith heard Shiro say as he disappeared down the hall. "Sleep with one eye open."

**Author's Note:**

>  _—no beta, all mistakes are my own._  


End file.
